Mark’s Duck House
Just now getting back from an action packed 5 days in the Washington, DC area for the inauguration and had a couple outstanding meals.
First up was Mark’s Duck House.
I had called a couple days in advance to pre-order a handful of the Lobster, Crab and Scallop dumplings off their special Dim Sum menu and then planned to do random selections from their daily menu. The reservation was for 12:30 PM and when we arrived, the place was bustling with customers and we could barely squeeze in the door… A good sign in my opinion and I was feeling pretty damn proud of our reservation.
We were seated at a large table in the back and 5 seconds after sitting down, it was a steady stream of dumpling tray after dumpling tray. The table had a Lazy Susan and it wasn’t long before we were spinning that baby around like a top trying to get the next item. Service was good, chop sticks abounded and English wasn’t the primary language…
Notable dishes include:
- Shrimp Dumplings
- Scallop Dumpling
- Crab Dumplings
- Lobster Dumplings
- Fried Calamarie
- Shrimp Noodle Crepe
- Fried Sesame Buns
- Pork Buns
Honerable mention for something to not order again:
- Boiled Beef Ball… eer, not recommended.
To go with the mounds of food (literally), we sucked down a refreshing, semi-sweet 2006 St. Urbans-Hof Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Spätlese (90 pts) and a gorgeous bottle of 2003 Domaine Charvin Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The Charvin is a big, mouth full of a wine that gives up rich raspberry and plum notes mixed with hoisin sauce, roasted herbs and licorice aromas. On the palate, it’s full bodied, concentrated and possesses a very un-charvin like, substantial, full texture that leads into a long finish. A gorgeous wine and it went surprisingly well with the assorted dumplings (95pts).
All in all, an outstanding restaurant that I’d happily visit again… in fact, sitting here typing this in Newark’s airport, right now would work just dandy…
Salut and thanks for reading.
Coming up next… Inn at Little Washington…
- Jeb Dunnuck